Injured Cruise Ship Staff Could Get $1.3 Million In Damages From Carnival Cruise Line

A Carnival Cruise employee has won a legal fight against the company over its refusal to provide him medical costs despite sustaining a serious back and spinal injury while on duty.

The legal relief will earn him $1.3 million in damages from the Cruise line.

According to cruise news, 35-year-old Genti Jankula from Albany won the legal battle.

The injured employee had earlier won an arbitration award of $1,357,831.40. The Albanian thought that would end his financial woes.

But Carnival Corporation in September 2018 ignored the award saying the arbitrator was unfair to the company’s arguments.

But a federal judge in Miami on Sept 18 ordered the cruise company to pay Jankula the amount with penal interest at the rate of $186 per day.

The longtime Carnival Cruise Line employee suffered serious back injury aboard the Carnival Valor cruise ship. The spinal injuries were devastating.

The person started as an assistant waiter at the age of 23 in 2007. Later he joined the Carnival Valor ship on December 7, 2014, at the age of 30, after passing a fitness test, per court records.

The same day, while climbing his bunk, the bed’s handle got ripped off and Jankula fell backward and broke his back.

Carnival sent him back to Albania to receive treatment, where doctors said he had multiple spinal fractures.

However, Carnival stopped paying for Jankula’s medical treatment after a few months.

In 2015, an aggrieved Jankula approached Miami maritime attorney Tonya Meister citing his professional privileges are being violated by the employer.

The personal injury attorney was convinced that ship workers are entitled to get housing, food and medical costs from their employers during the period of treatment for injuries sustained at sea.

In September 2018, an arbitrator in Monaco determined that Carnival Cruise has been negligent on the matter and directed the company to pay $1.4 million for medical expenses, loss of earnings and trauma faced by the ex-employee.

But Carnival challenged the decision, saying the arbitrator treated the company unfairly. But it lost the appeal.

After Carnival refused, Jankula took the mater to a higher court. He moved the federal court in Miami and appealed the judge to direct Carnival to pay him.

The U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro ruled in his favor and asked Carnival to pay him.

Legal service on maritime and cruise related matters area specialty area. Many attorneys like Jim Walker in Florida bar offer support and awareness on the domain.

Carnival to develop new cruise port in the Bahamas

Meanwhile, Carnival Corporation and two of its cruise brands signed an agreement with the Bahamas government to build two new major ports.

Accordingly, Carnival Corporation will develop a cruise port destination for Carnival Cruise Line on Grand Bahama. A new pier on the Bahamian island of Little San Salvador is also on the list.

The investment on the Grand Bahama project will be $100 million and in Little San Salvador it will be $80 million.

After environmental clearances, the construction is expected to start by mid-2020.